Trapped
by bionic4ever
Summary: TEM3: Rudy goes missing and when Jaime and Steve are sent to find him, tragedy threatens them all.
1. Chapter 1

**Trapped**

Chapter One

The black limousine pulling slowly up the driveway did not bode well for any plans Steve and Jaime might have had for the evening. When Oscar came for a friendly visit, he drove his own car, but when they saw the limo, they knew the Director of the OSI was coming...for one of them.

"Aw, and it was such a good day, too," Jaime said lightly. Reluctantly, but with brave attempts at welcoming smiles, they opened the door to a grim-looking Oscar. "Which one of us it is this time?" Jaime asked without preamble as they moved into the den to sit down.

"Both of you," Oscar told them, staring directly at the Austins, ready for reaction this news might bring.

"**No way**!" Steve exploded.

Jaime put a gentle hand on his arm to calm him. "Oscar," she said, pulling her husband back down beside her, "it's either/or with us; you know that. We're not gonna risk Jenna having to grow up with no parents." All three adults turned to gaze briefly at Jenna, who was just beginning to pull up onto all four and rock back and forth. She'd be crawling any day now. Jaime turned her attention back to Oscar, her eyes flashing with emotion. "It's bad enough that _one _of us has to take a risk! Both is just asking too much, and we won't -"

"Rudy is missing," Oscar told them, very quietly.

Steve frowned. "Isn't he still on vacation? Ice fishing up North somewhere?"

"Technically, yes, but he missed his scheduled safety check-in with us last night, and my friends with the local police department found his cabin empty this morning."

"He probably spent the night in the fishing shanty," Steve suggested. "You know how he likes peace and quiet when he's away -"

"Safety check-ins are **not** optional," Oscar pointed out.

Steve shrugged, trying to avoid the worry creeping up to grab him. "I've ignored more than a few of those mandatory phone calls myself..."

"Rudy isn't you," Jaime told him. "He follows procedures...unless he's in trouble." Oscar nodded. "Oscar, I should go; I can hear him if he's trapped somewhere."

"No, Sweetheart," Steve argued, "I can spot him from further away."

"Which is precisely why I need _both _of you," Oscar concluded.

"I'll call my aunt to stay with Jenna," Jaime said, reaching for the phone.

"She's already on her way; be here any minute," Oscar told her. "Golden's police department tells me they've had fairly significant snowfall in the last 24 hours, so -"

"That'll make it easier to find him," Steve said, "if we can follow tracks in the snow."

"Yes, but it also presents a real danger to the two of you. Make sure you stop by the lab and pick up those insulated snowsuits Rudy designed for you," Oscar instructed. "We don't know how long you'll be out in that weather, but if you aren't protected, we may need a second search team to look for you."

"We'll be careful," Jaime promised.

"And it shouldn't take long," Steve assumed. "He just waited a little too long for the big one to bite, and lost track of time; we'll bring him home."

- - - - - -

Rudy had not lost track of anything, except his own whereabouts. As for time, he was painfully aware of every passing second.

- - - - - -

Jaime stared out the window as the plane sped toward Golden. "Steve...?" she began tentatively. His eyes were closed, but she knew he wasn't sleeping.

"Yeah?"

"Do you really think Rudy's just having too much fun to call in?"

"No." Steve took her hand, knowing his opinion would upset her. "He's too responsible for that. He's in trouble – stranded somewhere...or worse."

"Why didn't you say that to Oscar?"

"Because then we'd be sharing this flight with half a dozen suited NSB penguins who would be of absolutely no use in the Canadian wilderness. We'd end up holding their hands like a couple of bionic baby-sitters. They'd only slow us down."

Jaime nodded and closed her eyes, too, still holding her husband's hand.

- - - - - -

Rudy's eyes were open, but he couldn't see. The last thing he remembered, he was in his shanty, dozing a bit while he waited for the next fish to strike. When he'd opened his eyes (about an hour ago), he'd found himself bound hand and foot. His mouth had been taped and something covered his face or possibly his whole head. Rudy sensed that he wasn't alone; there were several people standing over or around him, but no one was talking – not to each other or to him. He began pulling at his bonds, testing them, and was almost instantly stilled by a fist to his stomach.

No one spoke a word, and the silence was deafening and far more terrifying than anything his unknown captors might have said. In the last hour, he'd been struck every time he moved, but the quiet that surrounded him grew louder and more threatening until finally, he stopped struggling. He could only wait; for what – he had no idea.

- - - - - -


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

"I feel like a spaceman in this thing!" Jaime exclaimed, winking at her husband. "No offense." It was only a short trek from the landing strip to Rudy's cabin at the base of the mountain, but they had bundled each other securely in protective garments, knowing that if their bionics froze, the one person who could help them was missing.

"A darn cute space-person, in my book," Steve said, stopping for a kiss before they stepped out into the snow. "Cabin's this way," he told her, pointing North. He and Oscar had been there with Rudy on several week-end fishing trips, but the terrain was completely foreign to Jaime.

They sank into snow almost up to Steve's knees, with a harder, crunchy layer beneath the soft, fluffy newer flakes. Jaime frowned. "I think we should move back to California, as soon as we're done here. I forgot how much I hate snow!"

"Back to the earthquakes?" Steve said lightly, helping her along more than he needed to. "Great idea."

"Never mind."

Their's were the first tracks in the snow outside of Rudy's cabin. "He hasn't been out here all night; at least not since the snow fell," Steve surmised. There was no tell-tale column of smoke rising from the tiny chimney, and both Austins' hearts skipped a beat as they opened the door. There was no sign of Rudy. They shed their suits temporarily, to make further preparations, and Steve placed his hand over the logs in the fireplace. "Cold. He hasn't been here for hours. Probably not since lunch time yesterday."

Steve reached into the cupboard and found Rudy's huge, 3-man-sized thermos and a can of coffee. While he started the pot brewing, Jaime began to make sandwiches. Steve gazed at her deeply, concern for her as well as for Rudy darkening his eyes.

"You could wait here," he suggested, "and keep the cabin warm until I find Rudy."

"Nice try, Colonel," she told him, "but we're in this one together." Jaime put the thermos in Steve's backpack and the sandwiches in her own, and they both stepped back into their suits. "Let's go find the shanty."

- - - - - -

It wasn't news that Russ relished being the bearer of, but it was urgent. "I just got off the phone with Interpol," he told Oscar. "It seems there's an old, abandoned Mountie relief station just a few kilometers up the mountain from Rudy's cabin."

"So maybe he found shelter -" Oscar began.

Russ shook his head. "It isn't vacant anymore. About a month ago, their intel sources reported a group of rogue scientists – mostly Chinese – were steadily moving equipment and supplies up there in the middle of the night. They could only ID two of the men, but it appears their primary focus is on creating very small, portable self-contained heating units which would allow the wearer to function in sub-zero climates with no danger of frostbite."

Oscar's frown lines deepened as he wondered what, if anything, this had to do with Rudy. "They've run into major problems trying to find an energy source able to power the units," Russ continued, "and have been looking for alternative -"

"Alternative energy sources, like the ones Rudy has been researching," Oscar concluded.

"That's right. Interpol believes they've also located a new source of funds for this project; I won't attempt to pronounce the name, but they've been described as something like a cross between the KBG and an overseas Mafia."

"If they've gotten their hands on Rudy..." Oscar said softly. "Russ, get me a plane and a chopper to pick us up at the landing strip in Golden. We need to leave...yesterday."

- - - - - -

Jaime and Steve trudged and fought their way through the snow. It really wasn't far to Rudy's fishing shanty on the little lake at the base of the mountain, but the drifts grew higher as they got closer, and it seemed to take forever. The doctor had shoveled and carved a little niche for himself, all around the shanty.

"He's obviously in good health," Steve commented, "to have done all this."

The inside of the shanty was not quite so reassuring. Rudy's chair was overturned and his fishing pole was lying abandoned on the ice. Steve instinctively pulled Jaime closer to him and felt her shiver with the same cold feeling of dread that ran through his own heart.

- - - - - -

Rudy felt himself being lifted – chair and all – carried a short distance and then set down again. He remained still and alert, trying to steel himself for the next blow, but it didn't come. Instead, his wrists were freed and as his captors' footsteps moved behind him, so was his hood. In front of him, he found a table with several small components that he recognized as very primitive forms of a heat/energy source, similar to what he had set up in his own lab, but not nearly as advanced.

"You will fix it," a voice said, just before the door was slammed. Rudy was alone.

- - - - - -

Russ and Oscar's flight to Golden made it in near-record time. Their waiting chopper pilot looked doubtful when Oscar told them his team of six needed to go to the abandoned Mountie station. "It's urgent," Oscar insisted. "Three of my best people are in that station, possibly trapped; we _have _to get there!"

"That's halfway up the mountain," the pilot told him carefully. "In this weather, you're risking an avalanche..."

- - - - - -


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

Rudy stared at the botched circuitry, trying to ignore what he knew were at least a couple of broken ribs. The equipment was primitive – years beyond what he was used to – and the supplies he might need simply weren't there. He reached down to try and free his legs, but found they were padlocked. Tipping the chair might work, but could also send a rib into his lung...or worse. Slowly, he began to re-wire a few connections, trying to jury-rig something that might work temporarily.

He didn't have long to puzzle over the problem, though, before several loud **THUD**s seemed to shake the building, followed by the sounds of gunfire – multiple shots – running footsteps and bodies hitting the floor. Then, something far more ominous overwhelmed them: a low rumbling, from somewhere above them on the mountain, grew quickly into a roar, engulfed all other sounds and shook the building for real.

- - - - - -

"Steve, did you hear that?" Jaime asked, grabbing his arm. "I think it's a chopper!"

Steve frowned and shrugged. "I believe you, though. Where is it?"

"Up the mountain. Let's go!" She stopped short in the shanty's doorway, listening again. "Oh, God – gunshots!"

Behind her, Steve again tried to head out the door, but was halted by Jaime's insistent, outstretched arm. "What is it?"

"I...don't know. I've never heard anything like it..."

Steve's eye identified what Jaime's ear could not, but it was too late. A wall of snow, moving faster than bionics, hit the shanty and tipped it sideways before the scream could escape Jaime's lips. Just as suddenly, there was silence.

- - - - - -

The scientists were well-armed, but had not been expecting visitors, and were easily overtaken. While Oscar's men rounded them up, Oscar and Russ began searching for their three missing friends. When the rumbling overtook them, Oscar flinched. He knew that sound from his time in the service. "Avalanche," he said, bracing until the roar had ceased. Thankfully, the building held.

Russ reached the closed door at the end of the hall first and kicked it in, the knob barely missing Rudy's head. He quickly set to work trying every key on the ring he'd grabbed from one of the downed scientists, trying to free Rudy's legs while Oscar began to carefully assess the doctor's condition.

"Where did they hurt you?" he asked, knowing from Rudy's eyes that he was in pain.

"Couple of ribs; not too bad," Rudy lied, stretching his newly-freed legs. "Are they all...?"

Oscar nodded. "Had to take a couple of them down, but the rest are in custody. Might be awhile before we can get them off the mountain, though. Is this area known for avalanches?"

"Not for the last few years, anyway."

Oscar's eyes scanned the small room. It was the last one, with no sign of their other two friends. "Rudy, where did they take Steve and Jaime?"

"What? They...weren't with me..."

"No, but when we didn't hear from you, I sent them to find you. They must've trailed you here and been taken -"

Rudy shook his head. "Oscar, if they'd been captured, these idiots would've rubbed it in my face somehow."

"Oh, no," Oscar groaned, "then they're still out there...in the snow."

Rudy was fully alert now. "Do they have the protective gear I made for them?"

"I made sure of it."

"As long as they're wearing the suits, they should be ok," Rudy explained. "If not, or if there's the slightest breach in the material...they're in serious trouble."

- - - - - -

Jaime woke up first, and very slowly. Steve had instinctively pulled her backwards into the shanty, his body cushioning her fall as the snow took them both down. The tiny building had been no match for the forces of nature, and had collapsed around them, with one wall over the top of them and what used to be the ceiling sticking straight up in the snow near their heads. The wooden slatted structure had given them only partial protection, at best, since snow had poured in through the doorway and through the open bottom, once it had tipped.

"Steve...?" she said softly, digging with her right arm until she could touch his face. To her relief, he began to move and gradually opened his eyes. A shiver ran through them, and Jaime couldn't be sure whose body it came from.

"Earthquakes aren't sounding too bad right now," he joked.

"Are you hurt?"

"I don't think so. Are you alright?"

Jaime took a moment to make sure she could still move. She felt stiff, but ok. "Just sorta cold..." When she finished shifting around, her eyes caught a terrifying sight. "Oh, God..." she whispered, before she could stop herself. Steve followed her gaze to the right arm of his 'cold suit', where he now sported a six-inch gash in the sleeve. "I'm going for help," she told him. She raised herself up with her arms but found her legs uncooperative.

"Jaime," Steve began, spotting the very slight tear in the leg of her suit. He didn't have to finish; she saw it, too.

Steve wrapped his left arm around her as she sank beside him into the drift. The shanty walls had at least made a substantial air pocket for them, but they both knew the snow was well over their heads, and, unable to move, they had no way out.

"What was it that friend of yours said?" Jaime reflected, leaning into Steve for the warmth they could give each other. "Houston..."

"We've had a problem."

- - - - - -


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

"They must be somewhere between your cabin and this station," Oscar speculated. "We'll have to start there and work our way back up."

"No way you're getting down there now," the pilot informed them from the doorway.

"Is the chopper buried?" Oscar asked sharply.

"Well, no – the landing bay shielded it, but -"

"Then we're going."

"It's almost 20 below out there, and that's before you factor in the wind. Besides," the pilot argued, "there's nowhere down there to land. Those drifts would bury us."

"I'm going down there," Oscar insisted, "and if you won't take me, that leaves either this fine, young bureaucrat or this injured doctor to fly _your _bird. I don't have time to argue, and neither do my friends. You'll fly over the area and set me down on a rope ladder, and -"

"Oscar, you can't go out there," Rudy protested. He glanced down at Oscar's legs, not wanting to mention bionics in front of the pilot.

Russ caught the hint and motioned to the nervous young aviator. "Let's get the chopper ready."

"We have to count on Steve and Jaime's abilities – and their protective gear," Rudy told Oscar quietly. "Your legs would freeze up in minutes and you'd be paralyzed. We don't have another suit."

"What if we hover, and I only go down when we see some sign of Jaime or Steve? If they're alright, they're probably back in your cabin, in front of a roaring fire...and if they're in trouble, hopefully they were able to leave some sort of sign – a mark in the snow drift – something. We have to try, Rudy!"

"Do you know how deep that snow is now?" Rudy said, very quietly. His heart broke for their friends, but looking out the window, it was obvious the drifts were more than a full story high in spots. The immense weight and pressure made digging out from underneath next to impossible for anyone who might be buried. "And with the temperature...I just hope we're not already too late..." Rudy stared briefly at the table, collecting his thoughts, then his head snapped back toward Oscar, his eyes lit brightly with new inspiration. "Oscar, I have an idea...!"

- - - - - -

Jaime and Steve were struggling to keep each other conscious. Jaime still had the use of her arm (since her power cell was further from the damage to her suit), but Steve, with the tear directly over his upper arm, was almost completely paralyzed. Jaime reached behind him, took out the thermos and poured coffee into the little cup.

"Maybe we should save that," Steve said in a weak, distant voice.

"For what? We need it now."

"You should drink some..."

Jaime twisted at the waist to bend over him, her useless legs unmoving, and pressed the cup to his lips. "I will, but you first." Steve took a few sips and closed his eyes. "Uh-uh, Colonel – no dice," she insisted. "You're not fading out on me." He looked up at her again, and she gave him some more of the still-hot coffee, then took a drink herself.

Steve's only movement was in his flesh and blood left arm, and once Jaime had set down the thermos, he pulled her close again and they nestled together, shivering. "Oscar must know about the avalanche by now," Steve said, hoping it was true but trying to keep Jaime's spirits up. "I'm sure they've got a team out there, looking for us."

"How will they find us, Steve? The snow is so deep..."

He could hear the futility in her voice, and was not about to let her give up. "We can't dig, but -"

"I could try."

"You've got nothing to brace against, Sweetheart, and your legs aren't cooperating. If we could somehow mark the area, let them know where we are..."

Jaime reached over and grabbed one of the wall slats and began poking it upward, but the tip never broke ground. "It's not long enough," she moaned, lying down next to her husband. "They're not gonna find us...are they?"

"We can't give up," Steve told her, growing colder by the second. "Jenna needs both of her parents..."

Jaime closed her eyes and leaned into Steve's shoulder, thinking of their daughter. She was so young – barely learning to crawl. "Steve!" She sat up suddenly, as straight as the frozen white ceiling would allow. "That's it!" With the energy of renewed determination, Jaime flipped over onto her stomach and moved into a sort of 'push-up' position, much as their daughter had done early that morning. She grabbed another wall stat and forced it under the bottom of what used to be the shanty's roof and began rocking back and forth, just like Jenna, using the wall piece as a lever to launch the smaller piece up through the snow. "I think I got it!" she announced triumphantly, before falling back into the crook of Steve's arm, completely exhausted. As hard as they tried to stay awake, soon both found themselves drifting into blackness together in a frozen embrace.

- - - - - -


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

"How does that feel?" Rudy asked while Oscar eased himself off the table and onto his feet.

"They feel fine," Oscar told him, stretching his legs and walking around the room. "But they don't feel any warmer, Rudy."

"Good – they shouldn't." He eyed the foreign scientists' heat units which he'd managed to temporarily rig to the power cells in Oscar's legs. "Hopefully, these units can keep your legs from freezing up and – if we're very lucky – keep the rest of you going a little longer out there, too. If you feel a strong sense of heat or burning, something's wrong."

"Chopper's ready," Russ called from the doorway. "Pilot's refusing to go up, but I'm willing to try, if you're willing to let me."

"Have you ever flown one before?" Rudy asked.

"A couple of times, right after college, so it's been awhile."

"Let's go," Oscar said quickly. "We'll come back for you after we find Jaime and Steve," he told Rudy.

"Nothing doing; I'm coming with you. Those circuits are only jury-rigged – you might need my help," the doctor insisted. _Hopefully, I'll still be able to help Steve and Jaime, too..._

- - - - - -

Jaime's subconscious mind and her bionic ear forced her back to semi-wakefulness as the one sound she'd been praying for broke through the cold and darkness: _a chopper! _

"Steve..." she mumbled, poking him when he didn't respond. "Steve!" Her husband was silent and far too still. Jaime reached out with her left arm to try and move the make-shift lever again - to draw what she hoped was their rescuers' attention – but it was so cold and she was so tired...

- - - - - -

The sun was nearly gone, and Oscar peered out the chopper window, searching for anything the beacon might show them. "It's deeper than we thought," he told Rudy sadly, "I can't even see your cabin." All that was visible wherever he looked was a vast field of white. "Are you sure we're in the right spot?"

"I know 'my' lake," Rudy insisted. "According to the compass, we should be just about over my fishing shanty." He moved the beacon slowly from side to side, stopping at one point to get a closer look out the window.

"You see something?" Oscar asked anxiously.

Rudy shook his head. "I thought I did, but...Russ, can you take us down a little lower?"

The helicopter swayed and dipped before hovering again, and Oscar raised his binoculars. "There – I see it, too!"

Rudy's shoulders slumped. "It's just a stick."

"One stick, poking out of all that snow? It's them; it has to be!" Oscar donned his knit face mask and hat, secured the parka hood over both, pulled on his gloves and headed for the hatch. "Hand me the ladder, Rudy," he requested, and both men hurried to double check the strength of the knots. Oscar opened the hatch and swung the ladder out over the snow. "Hold the beacon right there," he told the doctor before stepping out onto the wildly-swaying rope.

When he reached the bottom, he tested the ground cover with his foot; it was far too unstable to stand on. "A little lower!" he called into his datacom, wanting to be as close to the snow as they could get him. He could see the tip of a wooden board or slat, barely poking through the top of the drift. "There's something here!"

Holding the rope ladder with one hand, Oscar reached out and carefully brushed snow away from the piece of wood. There were a half-dozen more, in an imperfect row, just below the surface. A wall? He knew he'd found the remains of Rudy's little shelter by the lake, but sadly, there were no signs of life. Suddenly, as he was leaning back toward the ladder, Oscar saw the slats move - just barely, but in a way only a human could move them. This was not the wind or snow shifting in the drift! "Send down the shovel," he called, "and hurry!"

The datacom blared back at him, with Russ bringing welcome news. "The Mounties just radioed; they've got a full search and rescue team on the way."

"That's great!" Oscar called back. "In the meantime, I'll start digging."

"They want you to mark the spot and then stay in the chopper until they get here," Russ relayed, already knowing Oscar would do no such thing.

"Right – snowball's chance in Hell of that!" Oscar confirmed, ducking his head as the shovel came down on a separate rope and then grabbing it tightly by the handle. He left the datacom turned on and tucked it into his upper pocket so he could still hear it as he dug. One free arm simply wasn't good enough, so Oscar entwined his legs in the rope ladder (hoping for a bionic-strength grip with his feet), then stuck one arm through the ladder for stability, grabbed the shovel and started to dig.

"Be careful!" Rudy cautioned through the tiny speaker. "The snow is insulating them from the worst of the cold; if you uncover them and can't pull them right out, they'll freeze to death in minutes!"

Oscar hadn't thought of that. Reluctantly, he stopped digging and marked a huge, deep "X" in the snow. He looked at the wooden slat, standing motionless now, and reached out with the shovel to jiggle it back and forth for a few moments. When he stopped, precious seconds flew by and then the slat moved again. Someone was alive down there!

"Tell that team we need them _**now**__!"_ he called, moving the wooden piece one more time, trying to will his friends to hang on.

- - - - - -


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

The emergency team arrived quickly. Although civilians, they'd been dispatched through the RCMP and were the most highly trained and specialized crew available. They managed to set down a chopper and a Medivac in the snow not far from where Rudy's cabin was located. "Over here!" Oscar called to them, waving his arms. "I found them!"

He'd been unable to just wait around doing nothing, so Oscar had continued to dig, making a shallow indent in the snow over the area where his friends were trapped. Testing it again with one foot, he found that with the surface cleared away, he was now able to walk without sinking. Four men with shovels joined him, with an extra crew of four waiting their turn and paramedics standing close by.

"How long have they been down there?" the leader asked as all five men – Oscar included – began digging in earnest.

Oscar looked at his watch. "About twenty-five minutes."

"Two of them?"

Oscar nodded. "A man and a woman." Oscar hadn't been much of a praying man since losing his own family, but he was praying now. It had been at least five minutes since the last time he saw the wooden slats move. Emergency floodlights lit the area to near-daylight levels and the crew, working feverishly, soon made their first discovery.

"I've got a sleeve!" one man cried out, "And a lot of wood. They're covered in it!" He and his team mates shoveled a little more then began pulling out the jagged pieces of the shanty's wall. Oscar looked up and saw Rudy standing with the paramedics; Russ had somehow landed the other chopper and, in spite of his injuries, Rudy was determined to begin treating Steve and Jaime the second they were out of the drift.

"We've got the man!" a rescuer called out as Steve was carefully uncovered and pulled from the snow. The paramedics rushed forward with a gurney. "He's not breathing," someone said quietly, and they ran with their patient to the Medivac as the digging continued.

"There she is!" Oscar said, spotting Jaime's unmoving form first. The team eased her out as quickly as they could without jostling her and then Jaime, too, was wheeled into the waiting Medivac.

Both Austins remained ominously silent as Rudy and the medics worked to assess and stabilize them. Oscar boarded the chopper and stood over to one side as it took off, waiting quietly until Rudy was able to give him an update. "Watch him closely for V-Fib," the doctor reminded the team as he stepped away from Steve's gurney.

"Rudy...?" Oscar asked nervously.

"They're alive; both of them," Rudy answered. "But Jaime's condition is very serious, and right now, Steve is critical. We got him breathing again, but he's completely non-responsive. We're lucky they made it this far. Hopefully -" his voice trailed off as, from her stretcher, Jaime began moaning softly.

"Easy, Honey," Rudy crooned quietly, trying to keep her from panicking and thrashing around. "I need you to try and lie still." He tucked the thermal blankets, noting that she had begun to shiver – a very encouraging sign. Her plaintive cry tore at his heart, though, since he had no positive answer for her yet.

"Steve..."

- - - - - -

Even as an ICU patient herself, Jaime refused to be separated from Steve. Since she needed to remain in bed and rest quietly until her body's core temperature was back to normal, Rudy finally convinced the doctors to push a second bed into the ICU cubicle, directly next to the first one, so Jaime could hold her husband's hand.

"He's still so cold, Rudy," she whispered, trying to sit up and get a better look.

The doctor eased her carefully back onto her pillow. "It's very important for you to lie flat and not move around, Honey," he told her patiently. "Steve _is _responding; his heart sounds much stronger and he's breathing on his own."

Jaime tried once again to see him, raising only her head this time, but settled down with only a raised eyebrow and a stern "Jaime...!" from Rudy.

"Don't make me come over there," a quiet voice said from directly beside her.

"Steve!" Jaime forced herself to stay in bed, but reached out to clasp his hand and was rewarded with a weak but loving squeeze in return. She turned her head, careful to keep it on the pillow, and Steve's soft, blue eyes held Jaime's hazel ones in a tender gaze as they both drifted off to sleep.

- - - - - -

One week later, Jaime and Steve stepped arm-in-arm from the private plane to meet a jubilant welcoming committee. Oscar and Russ had been joined by Jaime's aunt and a very special guest.

"Jenna!" Jaime squealed happily, rushing to take their daughter into her arms. The baby laughed and gurgled in her tiny infant's voice as Steve bent down to rub noses and make googly eyes at her.

"Is she crawling yet?" Jaime asked her aunt.

"Not yet – doing a lot of rocking, though. She must be waiting for you."

"You saved us with that rocking, Baby," Jaime cooed, all smiles. "Do you know that?"

"I'd say she's earned her parents a vacation," Oscar proclaimed, joining them. "How about Hawaii?"

Jaime turned and rolled her eyes. "Tidal waves, Oscar?"

"Florida?"

"Hurricanes..."

Oscar thought to himself, running through the possibilities. Tornadoes, sandstorms, windstorms – this family, between an earthquake and an avalanche, had seen enough natural disasters for at least a lifetime. "Any suggestions?" he finally asked.

"Just one," Jaime laughed, bumping noses with Steve as they both 'Eskimo-kissed' their daughter. "How 'bout Home, Sweet Home...?"

END


End file.
